The Department of Theatre and Dance believes new work is stimulating and necessary. New play development initiatives are designed to take vibrant and promising scripts through an intensive process involving research, rewrites and on-your-feet explorations with the provision of student artists and audiences who have a strong sense of community.

We invite you to a staged reading and intimate talkback with the author, director and cast of a new play entitled, To the Rock that is Higher.

From Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist Clinnesha D. Sibley, comes a new drama that explores raw emotions surrounding the massacre at Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston, South Carolina. To the Rock is the concentrated story of Brian and Chrystal, a young couple who move to the Holy City in the wake of the church tragedy. Issues surrounding their ethnicity, religion and personal histories are brought to light and anxieties get them questioning their hope for marriage. Clinnesha is the winner of the Holland New Voices Award and an Assistant Professor of Playwriting. The staged reading will be directed by Dr. Vivian Appler, also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

DETAILS: Friday, November 13 & Saturday, November 14, 2015, at 7:30pm | Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. | $10 suggested donation